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you,” Steven said. “How was the party?”
    Karen had just gotten back from dinner at the Lerners’, but the Steven situation had been gnawing at her all evening, and she wanted to get it over with. She’d made the call while standing up, leaning against the wall in the foyer. She hadn’t even taken her coat off.
    “Pretty good,” Karen said.
    “Yeah,” Steven said, “was the house as fancy as you expected?”
    “It was pretty spectacular actually,” Karen said.
    “Wow, sounds awesome.”
    “It was… Look, Steven, I hate to do this, I really do. I mean, I think you’re a really great guy. You’re smart, you’re funny, but this just isn’t working for me. I’m really sorry.”
    Silence. Uh oh, he wasn’t going to get angry or start yelling, was he? She’d had to end several relationships since her divorce, and it was always a mystery how the guy would take it. Some were mature, but some begged, and others got angry and threatening.
    “Oh okay, I understand.” Steven sounded relaxed, cool with it.
    “Thank you.” Karen was relieved.
    “No worries,” Steven said. “I think you’re great, and I was looking forward to getting to know you better, but you have to follow your heart in these situations. I get that.”
    Relief hit Karen. “Thank you for being so understanding,” she said. “I can’t tell you how much I appreciate this.”
    “No problem, seriously,” Steven said. “I hope our paths cross again someday. And, hey, we’re still Facebook friends. Maybe we can play Words With Friends sometime.”
    Karen laughed. “I’d like that,” she said.
    Later, Karen was in her bedroom, getting out of the dress she’d worn to the party, still feeling good about how it had gone with Steven. Why couldn’t ending relationships always be so easy? If something was wrong, why couldn’t people accept that sometimes things don’t work out and happily move on?
    She’d changed into PJ bottoms and an old T-shirt and then heard the front door open. She went to the landing and saw Elana and Matthew; they’d spent the evening at the Bermans’.
    “Hey, how’s it going?” Karen was happy to see them. “Did you have a fun night?”
    “It was pretty good,” Matthew said, running upstairs, past her.
    Karen went down and said to Elana, who was texting, “And how was your night?”
    “Okay,” Elana said distractedly.
    “Please look at me when we’re talking.”
    “Sorry.” She stopped staring at the phone, but Karen could tell she was still lost, thinking about whomever she was texting with. Then full consciousness returned and she said, “Oh, yeah, it was pretty good. Hey, can I go to a party with Riley at Dylan Ross’ house tomorrow night?”
    “Will Dylan’s parents be there?”
    “No, but they’ll be home by midnight.”
    “I want you home by eleven the latest.”
    “Eleven-thirty?”
    “Eleven.”
    “Okay, Mom,” Elana said. Then she kissed Karen on the cheek. “Goodnight.”
    “Goodnight, sweetie,” Karen said.
    Elana went upstairs, and Karen made a cup of green tea, then relaxed in the living room with her iPad. As a single mom, there were times when Karen was lonely and missed having a man around—not her ex, a man . She missed doing couple things—going on trips together or just out to dinner or into the city for an afternoon. But usually, like right now, she loved the alone time, having her own space, being able to have a relaxing late night at home. Compared to the tension at the end of her marriage this was practically bliss.
    After commenting on a few statuses on Facebook, Karen logged on to Match and reactivated her account. She used to be skeptical about online dating—the idea of shopping for men had been a turnoff—but there really was no other way to meet people these days, especially in the suburbs, and over the past three years she’d met some great guys online. Okay, she’d met some creeps too, like Paul the stalker and porn-obsessed Mike, but most of her